Ferric "Eric" Tam
)]] Name: Ferric "Eric" Tam Gender: Male Age: 16 Grade: Junior School: Silver Dragon Academy Hobbies and Interests: Chemistry, electronic music, getting good grades, working out, climbing things Appearance: For a person of his academic standing, Eric is a lot less scrawny and pale than expected. At 5'11" and 184 pounds, Eric looks more like somebody that could be playing on Silver Dragon's nonexistent basketball team or their joke of a football team. His arms and chest are bulked up from his hours spent at the gym, and his hands are callused from climbing over bark, cement, and rock. His mostly hairless arms also feature various scars and scabs from the times he fell down instead of climbing up. Eric's eyes are the dark brown typically found amongst those of Chinese ethnicity. A pair of glasses, thick framed and rectangular, interpose themselves between his eyes and the outside world. His nose is small and flat, making it comparably insignificant on his wide rounded face. Eric keeps his hair short, the longest strands about three inches in length. His hair is normally combed to the side, but its length keeps it from looking overly formal or traditional. A look at Eric's wardrobe would show an eclectic array of clothes that don't exemplify any style. Around school, he typically wears a polo shirt under a sweater-vest or a blazer. Usually under the polo shirt is a long-sleeved athletic t-shirt. Loose khaki pants allow him some freedom of movement for his climbing excursions. Brown hiking boots, well-worn from frequent scrapes against sides of buildings or tree branches, round out his typical outfit. In truth, Eric dresses more for practicality and comfort than for show, although he relents with the polo shirt to avoid looking slobbish around the school. Biography: Ferric was never told why his parents, both university professors with degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, had given him such a strange name. Perhaps it had been a joke, or maybe they just really liked their work. Either way, the name was stuck with him through all of his school years, although he managed to convince most of his classmates to call him Eric before they figured out what his name really meant. With both parents hailing from Hong Kong, teaching and conducting research at the local university, Eric had the academic lifestyle grilled into him every day of his life. Of course, his parents would enroll him into the best school in the Bryan, which was none other than Silver Dragon Academy. Without any other siblings for his parents to split attention with, Eric was constantly watched over by his parents, an arrangement he eventually got tired of. Most of his early years at school were spent by keeping to himself and his books. Eric rarely played with his peers, preferring to keep well away from the playground or ball courts to avoid stray balls or inattentive running children. His evenings were filled with the traditional complement of piano and extra math classes. Those too, Eric tired of quickly. His parents though, wouldn’t allow him to quit until he had mastered those skills. By the time he finished the math classes in junior high, Eric was thoroughly sick of mindless rote math problems; when he gave up on piano in his freshman year of high school, Eric was ready to smash his home’s grand piano with a sledgehammer. In his last year of junior high, Eric went on a school camping trip with his classmates. Drawn to a climbing wall in the camp area, Eric found himself exhilarated by the feeling of scaling a wall with the only thing between going up and going down being a good handhold. The city of Bryan, however, lacked adequate facilities for pursuing this activity. Eric made do by climbing anything else he figured could be climbed: trees, fences, and even buildings. Scaling flat walls and climbing high reaching branches required far more upper body strength than it had on the climbing wall. With his parents working at the university, Eric had easy access to a well-equipped gym to work out at in his free time. His parents, though not entirely supportive, allowed him to spend some time away from his books to do some exercise. Around the school were several high vantage points that Eric liked to sit at to read or eat lunch. He would occasionally get into trouble when spotted by a teacher, even when he was only as high as a second floor windowsill. Normally, he went up when nobody was around, and would rebuff anyone who thought to follow him. They were his climbing spots, after all. Eventually, the school administration cracked down and forbid him from going up to the building’s roofs and windows. It only took a week for Eric to find more discreet places to climb to. Eric’s grades are exceptional, and his academic standing is among the best in his class. His strongest subject is chemistry, by virtue of having everything easily explained by the doctors he lived with. Occasionally, Eric would proofread their papers, as his parents’ English was not nearly as fluent or varied. If anything would be considered Eric’s weakest subject, it would be American History, but he can pull out top marks in that subject as well. Troubles arise when Eric scores anything less than he expects, as this will prompt a fierce, though playful, rivalry with anyone who beats him. A pastime Eric picked up in the recent years was the composition of electronic music. In the aftermath of his quitting classical piano, Eric convinced his parents to get him a synthesizer to appease their requirement of a musically-capable child. He has composed a few songs and remixed several others, posting them on YouTube under the moniker “DJ Iron”. He keeps this a secret from his classmates though, as he’s sure that they would either shun him for liking strange music or for having some passion in music as opposed to something more prestigious like law or medicine. Eric has very little exposure to SotF-TV; his parents always said that TV would rot his brain. The bits he knows is picked up from the latest gossip around Silver Dragon Academy or random stumbling on the internet. Eric didn’t understand the draw of the show. It was crude and often showcased the stupidity of the rest of America. He was already fed up with the lack of competition the rest of his peers put up in school, and they were supposedly the elite. Of course, Silver Dragon was his best bet for a free ride through MIT, which Eric was sure he’d be getting in a year’s time. Advantages: Eric’s time spent in the gym has given him more bulk and muscle than the average highschooler. His strength allows him to hit hard in a fight and to overpower smaller students. Eric is experienced with climbing structures and trees, allowing him to find alternate entrances to a building or hiding spots behind the cover of leaves and branches. He is fiercely competitive and does not like losing. Disadvantages: Eric has few people he would call friends, a result from spending too many hours up in the trees. He has somewhat a reputation for being a snob when it comes to academics, and has insulted several of his classmates on occasion for not being able to measure up to him. Eric’s not a violent person, and he’d prefer to handle situations without fighting. Designated Number: Team Orange no. 3 --- Designated Weapon: KA-BAR Combat Knife Conclusion: Great action potential here, with the knife and his strength. Too bad about the diplomatic streak, but we'll see how he feels a couple days in. Mentor's Comment: Easily the most worthwhile team member. I have no doubts Mr. Tam will lead his compatriots to victory, and showcase the true worth of the Academy. The above biography is as written by Solomir. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made. Evaluations Kills: 'None '''Killed By: 'Madelyn Connor '''Collected Weapons: '''KA-BAR Combat Knife (designated weapon) '''Allies: Enemies: Mid-game Evaluation: Post-Game Evaluation: Memorable Quotes: Other/Trivia Threads Below is a list of threads that contain Ferric, in chronological order *At Home In The Forest *The Walking Dead *Finding Purpose *Wrong Direction *A Generation Lost in Space Your Thoughts Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Ferric. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here! Category:SOTF-TV Category:Characters